This former standout running back at Boston College took his team to great heights. I remember getting old film footage from Boston when I first wanted to do a story on his playing days .....and he shuffled his feet and said ....."Well ...if you want to that'd be nice .... but you don't have to."

I remember looking through the old grainy black and white film .....watching this guy powered over people with nothing more than a leather hat with ear flaps. One look at his nose ...and one could tell he had broken it a few times while running over defenders.

Holovak was an All-America football player ..... who rushed for 158 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 1943 Orange Bowl. Then after being drafted into the NFL .... he enlisted in the Navy ..and served like the patriot that he was. He commanded a PT Boat ...that was credited with sinking 9 Japanese ships. He played in the NFL ...was a head coach at both Boston College and the New England Patriots and he's a member of a number of Hall of Fames.

I didn't know Mike until he arrived in Houston. It was 1981 ...he had been elected to the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame the year before .... but I had to do some homework to find out al about him. He was hired by owner Bud Adams just after firing head coach Bum Phillips the month before so I was skepitcal about the whole thing ..... but Mike never showed that he was. He just went to work trying to get the Houston franchise back on track ...and he eventually did so.

Holovak was one of the big reasons the Oilers got Warren Moon out of Canada ...and he also was one of the big reasons the franchise built it's future around future Hall of Famers Bruce Matthews and Mike Munchak. Most of the time ..... he was doing his work in the background. Watching video upstairs in the old APC building ...or just watching practice from the sidelines. But just when he and then General Manager Ladd Herzeg .... seemed on the verge of parting company in the late 80's ....it was the bombastic Herzeg who was shown the door ...and the mild-mannered Holovak who took over to run the Oilers/Titans franchise as GM from 1989 through 1999.

When I think of Mike ...I think of two things. His warm smile and laugh .....and also his bent over jogging style we used to all see on the streets around the old Oilers training facility.

Mike was 88. He led a fulfilled life ...and he's survived by his loving wife Pauline.
Mike Holovak ...he's the greatest Oiler you never knew.